


Maid in the A.M.

by Lainy122



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Jealousy, M/M, cross-dressing for sexy reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 22:45:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5223839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lainy122/pseuds/Lainy122
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re not supposed to be here.” The lad frowned at him.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Harry said automatically. Which, wait. No, that wasn’t right. “Um, actually, I sort of live here?” </p>
<p>Okay, that came out less firm than Harry would like, but it was still true.</p>
<p>The guy rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”</p>
<p>Harry had absolutely no idea what was happening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maid in the A.M.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wristrope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wristrope/gifts).



> _PROMPT: maid!AU where Louis works for Liam's Buff and Go and Harry hires them for bi-monthly cleaning because he's a rich young celebrity who is frequently out of town. One day Harry is there when Louis goes to clean and he just talks with him and he’s says, “I’m supposed to be doing my job,” and Harry’s like, “Yeah okay but let’s have dinner while you’re here.”_  
>  (Bonus points if you have jealous ex-lover Nick who is still Harry's friend and hates Louis)  
> Crossdressing scene where Harry buys Louis' a maid costume as a joke but he really puts in on. 
> 
> ALL THE LOVE AND KISSES GO TO [tristarscoop](http://tristarscoop.tumblr.com/) who volunteered to take my huge mess of words and made it something legible. Thank you SO MUCH for gifting your time, I am sure you had many better things to do than make me look good! I am incredibly grateful <333

Harry rubbed his tired eyes as his driver pulled up to his flat. He had been up at five A.M. to get makeup and hair done for a promotional photo shoot that he hadn’t wanted to do in the first place, only to have the whole thing cancelled when the photographer had an artistic meltdown about the shade of green on the walls.

Harry was definitely going to send a polite, but firm email to his publicist; he was only home in London for a few more weeks before his next tour started and he hadn’t wanted to spend the whole time doing publicity - especially when he could have been catching up on precious hours of sleep instead of ducking lighting equipment being thrown around.

He just...wanted a bit of a break. It felt like he had only just come back from his last tour and already he was gearing to go off again. He just wanted some time to catch his breath, to catch up on his _sleep_.

When people had warned Harry the life of a rockstar would be difficult, he had thought more along the lines of physically demanding performances and avoiding drug scandals, not endless promotion work, insane schedules and crazy photographers.

“Thanks Gary,” Harry waved to his driver as he got out of the car. At least after the disaster that had been his morning, his afternoon was now clear. He was going to have a nap. A beautiful, glorious nap, one that would be written about in songs for ages to come as the most restful nap anyone had ever taken in the history of ever.

Harry was daydreaming of his high thread count sheets as he opened the door to his flat and came face-to-face with someone on the other side.

Both Harry and the other lad froze.

“Um…” Harry struggled to switch mental gears from potential nap to potential... home invasion? The guy in front of him was incredibly attractive, but he was also holding Harry’s bedding in his arms - including, heeeey, the sheets Harry had just been thinking about!

“You’re not supposed to be here.” The lad frowned at him.

“Sorry,” Harry said automatically. Which, wait. No, that wasn’t right. “Um, actually, I sort of live here?”

Okay, that came out less firm than Harry would like, but it was still true.

The guy rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”

Harry had absolutely no idea what was happening. His eyes dropped again to the bedsheets the guy had bundled up in his arms.

“Are you...um, are you robbing me?” Harry couldn’t help asking. He really really hoped the answer wasn’t yes, because he had no clue what to do if that was the case. Other than run away. Knowing his luck, the story would get sold to the tabloids about how Harry Styles had legged it from a lad armed with bedsheets.

The guy snorted in amusement. “Yeah, ‘cos the first thing I’m gonna nick from a millionaire’s penthouse is his _linen_.”

“Hey, it could happen,” Harry pouted. Which, okay, maybe it wasn’t very likely, but he was having trouble coming up with another reason someone might be in his flat, stealing his bedsheets.

“I’m your _cleaner_ , idiot,” the guy rolled his intensely blue eyes and headed down the hall to Harry’s laundry area.

Oh. That was much more logical than someone trying to steal his bedding. No matter how much Harry loved his comfortable sheets, he doubted they would be worth much to anyone else, not even the crazy fans.

In Harry’s defense though, the guy in his flat was _way_ too fit for the possibility of cleaner to occur to him in the first place. This wasn’t like, a porno.

Harry flushed pink and quickly chased the thought away. The cleaner was under his employment, which meant if he started thinking like that he was going to end up sued for sexual harassment, which is what happened when creepy millionaires took advantage of people like that.

Though, catching sight of the guy’s frankly incredible arse as he headed down the hallway, Harry suspected it might be worth it.

No, god, what was he thinking? He was not tempted to risk a lawsuit just to sleep with his unfairly attractive employee. For one thing, his mum would kill him.

He was just tired, that's all. He was going to have a nap. Yes. That was his plan from before, and that was his plan now. He was going to ignore any and all attractive and slightly sassy people in his house and have a lie down.

The problem with that plan is that when Harry went into his bedroom, his bed was stripped bare. Right. Because his cleaner had his bedsheets.

Harry wanted to cry.

He tried the guest room next, but the bed was not only bare of sheets, it had been tipped on its side and was being aired out outside on the balcony.

Rallying himself, Harry grabbed one of the uncovered pillows from the pile on the chair, and headed back towards the living room.

He could take a nap on the couch. The day was still salvageable.

Except when he reached the living room, the cleaner had finished hauling his laundry around and was vacuuming the room.

Loudly.

It wasn’t often Harry thought ‘Fuck it, I’m doing it anyway’, because he had learned as a teenager that type of mentality nearly always resulted in bad decisions filled with regret, but he certainly thought it now.

He flopped down on the couch, tucked the pillow under his head, and curled up facing away from the room to at least partially block out the light.

As Harry snuggled his face into the pillow, the vacuum paused behind him.

“What are you doing?” his cleaner all but demanded.

Harry took a deep breath.

Just because he was tired and grumpy was no reason to snap at anyone, no matter how obvious the question. Besides, his cleaner might simply be concerned that Harry was putting his grubby boots all over the newly cleaned couch.

“I’m just going to take a quick nap,” he said, trying to unobtrusively toe off his boots and slip them onto the floor. He doubted he was successfully stealth, but oh well. At least now they weren’t on the couch.

“You can’t possibly expect to fall asleep in here,” his cleaner sounded...cross? Harry rolled over to make sure, and yep, the guy was glaring at him. What?

“I promise not to get in the way.” Harry hoped he didn’t sound as desperately pathetic as he felt, but he’s not sure he succeeded.

“You won’t get in the way,” his cleaner repeated slowly, staring at him. At least he didn’t sound cross anymore.

“Please?” Harry added, hopefully. He really didn’t want to be thrown out of his own house by his cleaner. He just really really wanted a nap.

“Whatever.” His cleaner rolled his pretty blue eyes, and Harry gave a tired cheer which was all he could really muster at this point. He didn’t miss the snort of amusement from behind him when he rolled over to snuggle back into his pillow, but he took the higher ground and ignored it.

“I’m not leaving this room half-done just ‘cos you want a kip,” his cleaner warned, turning the vacuum cleaner back on to make his point, but Harry just murmured his assent, eyes already slipping shut.

The vacuum cleaner was loud, but it was rhythmic in its sweeping patterns across the rug, and Harry has definitely slept through worse.

He fell asleep in minutes.

When Harry woke up, the sun was much lower in the sky and a blanket had been draped over him.

There was a Post-it note stuck to his forehead.

 

_Guess you really needed that nap_

_\- Louis_

 

Smiling, Harry wandered into the bathroom to pee and wash his face. He had vague memories of half-hearted plans he had made with friends to go out tonight, but they flew out of his mind when he glanced into the mirror and saw that an elaborately curled moustache had been drawn on his face, complete with a small goatee scribbled on his chin.

He ends up staying in and ordering takeaway, spending his night Googling the average cost for sexual harassment settlements.

+++

The next morning, Harry was up early again, doing interviews on a few breakfast shows and for a couple of magazines, trying to generate buzz to sell the last few tickets for his upcoming European tour.

It’s a long day of tedious repetition; all the interviewers look the same - young women with overly-styled hair and carefully applied makeup who all try and flirt with him with the same faux-cheeky questions about his love life and his time spent on the road.

It wasn’t until the last interview of the day that Harry let himself relax a bit, talking to a middle-aged woman whom he liked the moment she pulled out photos of her children. He made a note to remember the name of the online blog she ran so that he could schedule more interviews with her in the future.

“So Harry, after this tour you’re back in the studio?” she asked, the first interviewer to even mention his music at all.

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it,” he responded with an enthusiastic smile. “I’ve been working with some really talented people and I think it’s going to sound really cool.”

“What have you been writing about?”

Harry liked her even more for leaving the question open and not blatantly demanding if any of them are love songs and if so about _who_ , nudge nudge wink wink.

“I can’t give too much away,” he said with a sly smile, “but there are a few songs lined up that I’m really proud of, and a couple I’m still tweaking a bit.”

“Not even a hint?” The interviewer sighed when Harry shook his head cheekily. “Well, it was worth a shot. I’m really looking forward to hearing it.”

“Thank you,” Harry replied sincerely. He gave her a hug as the cameras and lighting equipment started to get packed up, and signed a few things for her kids, insisting that next time she should bring them along. The two girls had looked so adorable in the photos and Harry loved kids.

If interviewers all brought their children along, it would certainly make days like today much more bearable. Maybe Harry could ask for that to be written into his rider, like how there were always gummi bears on the table. Although it occurred to him, as he emerged into the outside world, that demanding children be present at all times might give people the wrong idea.

It was roughly four in the afternoon and he had worked through lunch, so Harry was starving. He turned to head toward a set of nearby cafes for a sandwich or something, but his phone rang just as he was about to enter.

Ducking round the side of the building so he wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, Harry glanced at the screen. ‘Liam Payne’ flashed back at him. He frowned, the name unfamiliar. It was saved into his phone though, so he must know them or at least have met them. He answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Styles?” the voice on the other end was a young male voice that Harry didn’t recognise.

“Yes?” he replied, trying to keep the caution out of his voice. He really hoped some sneaky reporter hadn’t programed their number into his phone somehow. Ed had showed him a YouTube video recently about phone hacking techniques that had been frankly horrifying.

“My name is Liam Payne, from Buff and Go Cleaning Consultants?”

A lightbulb of recognition went off above Harry’s head. That was his cleaning company, whom he had hired based solely on their hilarious name and overly-muscled mascot.

“Oh! Of course, what can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to call in person to apologise for the mix-up yesterday,” Liam said earnestly. “Our schedule said you wouldn’t be home and I just wanted to say how sorry I am for anything Louis may have said or done, and assure you that our cleaners are usually very professional.”

“He drew a moustache on my face while I was asleep,” Harry said with a grin, because yeah, that was a thing that had happened. He had taken a photo of it with his phone.

There was silence on the other end and Harry checked the screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped out.

“I see,” Liam said, sounding resigned instead of amused, and also a bit muffled like he had his hand over his face. “I assume you won’t be needing our services any more?”

What?

“No, no, I thought it was really funny,” Harry reassured him.

“You...you did? Really?” Liam sounded like he wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. Maybe he thought Harry was one of those super-serious people that couldn’t take a joke.

“It kind of made my day,” Harry confessed, because it kind of really had. Also, it was only just occurring to him that mentioning that Louis had drawn all over a customer’s face might get him into trouble. “I took a photo.”

“Louis finally found someone who shares his sense of humour,” Liam replied with a snort of amusement. “And, um, I’m really glad that you’re not cross about it,” he added hastily, as though remembering he was talking to a client.

Harry thought about Louis’ piercing blue eyes and expressive face, his truly incredible arse and the amount of cheek he obviously had to draw all over a famous popstar he had talked to for less than five minutes.

“Can he be mine?” Harry blurted. Horrified, he rushed to clarify, “Like, my cleaner. Not just when I’m away, but when I’m home too?” God, that sounded even worse. “I mean, um, he wouldn’t have to wait until I’m not there, he could come by whenever.”

Harry covered his face with the hand not holding his phone. Jesus.

“Really?” Liam sounded delighted rather than disconcerted, so maybe he hadn’t noticed how completely creepy Harry had sounded. Thank god for small favours. “That would be great! I’m not going to lie, Louis nearly always does cleaning for empty houses, which means a lot of strange hours working around other people’s schedules. It keeps the number of complaints down, but can be a bit tricky for him to manage. He’ll be really happy to be able to work during the day.”

Harry beamed. He wasn’t being lecherous at all, he was doing Louis a favour! Everything was turning out better than expected.

“So I’ll see him tomorrow?”

“No?” Liam sounded uncertain. “He just cleaned yesterday. We only clean your house every other month?”

Right. Shit. Of course. He quickly tried to think of something.

“For my Halloween party! Like, to clean up after.” There was a confused silence on the other end and Harry belatedly remembered it was only the tenth of October. Fuck, he wished he was better at thinking on his feet. “Like, my preemptive one,” he hurried to explain. “Because I’ll be out of the country at the end of the month.”

There. That sounded totally plausible and not at all crazy. Luckily Liam seemed to be one of the trusting types and believed Harry completely.

“Oh damn, I’m really sorry, we must have missed that email! I’ll talk to Louis and make sure he knows about it, yeah?”

“That would be brilliant, Liam, thank you.”

They both hung up after saying goodbye  and Harry spent a moment congratulating himself on how smoothly he handled the whole situation.

Then he realised he had to organise, cater and invite all his friends to a made-up early Halloween party and it was...four thirty in the afternoon.

Fuck.

+++

Harry rang Nick because Nick was the only person he knew that could pull off this kind of party miracle.

After Harry had explained the whole situation and Nick had stopped laughing, he thankfully agreed to help. He even offered to bring a costume for Harry while he was busy getting his flat ready.

Foolishly, Harry was too distracted by the thousands of things he suddenly had to do with his afternoon to question it.

When Nick held up the skimpy man-size maid outfit a half hour before Harry’s guests arrived, Harry remembered that his ex-boyfriend could be an utter tit at the most inconvenient times.

“I hate you,” Harry said, grabbing the costume anyway because he didn’t have time to come up with anything else.

The skirt was very short, but the top showed off his chest tattoos and the bonnet headband sat in his curls nicely, so Harry shrugged and decided to own it. He had enough confidence to pull the outfit off and it wasn’t like anyone besides Nick would know the embarrassing backstory.

To Harry’s immense surprise and pleasure, the party turned out to be a huge hit. He had enough decorations stashed in a cupboard from last year to make it look like he put in a bit of an effort, and it turned out the caterer Nick organised had been practicing nibbles for upcoming Halloween events anyway, so had plenty of spooky h’ors d’oeurves on hand, ready to go.

Nick and Harry’s mutual friends were always ready for a great party and they arrived with wine bottles in hand, decked out in some truly spectacular last-minute costumes. Harry’s favourite was Pixie’s costume, which was a sign taped to her chest saying “Bless You” and wearing a pair of thick glasses with a fake nose attached.

“I’m a Blessing In Disguise!” she proclaimed loudly with her hands in the air upon arrival, and everyone roared in appreciation.

“I hope your cleaning boy appreciates the mess we are making for him,” Nick slurred in Harry’s ear as the night began to wind down and everyone started to leave.

“You make it sound so sleezy,” Harry said. He tried to give Nick a little shove whilst simultaneously keeping him upright. He thought about the blanket he had found draped over him when he woke up from his nap. “He’s not like that, he’s really nice.”

Nick poked one of Harry’s dimples. “None of that, thank you.”

“What?” Harry leaned away from Nick’s grabby hands, nearly toppling them both to the ground. Harry had maybe had a bit to drink too.

“No soft smiles, no fond expressions.” Nick waggled his finger. “This boy will only break your heart, mark my words.”

Harry frowned. “You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t need to darling,” Nick waved his hand distractedly. “I just need to know you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry’s frown deepened.

“That yours is a trusting nature, little one.” Nick sounded a little bit wistful, and Harry realised that his friend was even drunker than he thought.

“You want me to be bitter and cynical like you?” Harry teased lightly, trying to prop Nick up from where he was starting to slouch against the wall next to them.

“Never!” Nick proclaimed, trying to help Harry stand him up straight, with limited success. “I love you just the way you are.” Their combined efforts resulted in stumbling over each other’s feet and crashing to the floor together.

“You’re kind of a wanker sometimes, you know that?” Harry grumbled, having landed underneath his inebriated friend.

“I’ve been told.” Nick laughed from on top of him.

+++

The next morning, Harry woke up to his flat looking suitably like it had been hit by a party tornado. Nick had cleared out sometime during the wee hours of the morning, so Harry put on a pot of coffee and climbed into the shower.

The water was wonderfully warm and the steam soothed his aching head. Harry hadn’t thought he’d had that much to drink last night, but he was definitely moving more slowly than usual today. He was completely justified in spending a bit of extra time in the pounding hot spray daydreaming about how charming he would be when Louis arrived.

Eventually he climbed out, wrapping a towel around his waist, and headed back into his bedroom.

Where Louis was changing the sheets.

Harry was not ashamed to admit he let out a bit of a girly shriek, half out of surprise and half out of being _naked in front of Louis_. And not like, in the fun way, but in a holy-crap-is-that-the-time, please-don’t-judge-me kind of way.

Louis turned at the noise, his eyebrows shooting up when he spotted Harry dripping in the doorway, wrapped in just a towel.

Harry desperately tried to rally himself.

Right.

Louis had a key to get into his flat, because he usually cleaned when Harry wasn’t home. Harry had specifically asked him to come over to clean up after the party, so here he was, because today was after the party.

“Good...morning?” Harry guessed lamely, realising at the last moment that he had no idea what time it was. God, he sounded like an idiot.

Luckily Louis snorted in amusement. “Still hungover, are we?” he smirked, turning back to Harry’s bed and stripping the sheets off efficiently. “Don’t worry, I won’t be long and you can go back to sleep.”

“Um…” Harry was about to say something witty and charming, but he suddenly noticed that Louis was dressed much nicer today than he had been previously, in sinfully tight jeans and an incredibly soft-looking jumper with a scooped neck that displayed very edible-looking collarbones. The sight stole all thoughts from Harry’s head and it took everything he had not to jump him.

Then Louis bent over, presumably to check under the bed for any rubbish, and Harry couldn’t prevent the small noise that escaped him if he tried.

“This isn’t a porno.” Louis said from where he was crouched down.

“Oh my god, what?” Harry blurted, flushing red and completely giving himself away. “That’s not what I was thinking!”

“Of course it was, Curly, my arse looks amazing in these jeans.” Louis smirked as he straightened up.

Harry definitely couldn’t argue with that. He unobtrusively tried to straighten his towel, glad that Louis had turned back to the bed to gather the sheets into a pile he could carry.

“Why are you wearing jeans anyway?” Harry asked as he headed to his clothes drawer for some underwear. “They can’t be comfortable to like, clean a house in.”

“Didn’t expect to be here today, did I?” Louis replied easily.

Which, okay, made sense and also made Harry feel bad because obviously Louis had a life outside of cleaning Harry’s flat. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so forthright in trying to see Louis again so soon. What if today was a major inconvenience to him?

“Is this a joke?” Louis’ voice interrupted Harry’s thoughts and he looked up to see Louis holding up last night’s maid outfit and an incredibly unimpressed expression on his face.

Oh, _crap_. Harry might just expire on the spot from sheer mortification.

“No! No, no no, I mean, well, yes, but not on you!” Harry hurried to explain when Louis’ expression darkened. “Nick chose my costume for the party and that was what he picked, so that was...what I wore.”

This was literally the opposite of the impression Harry had hoped to give. He really wished he could start the day over.

“You...wore this.” Louis expression was unreadable, but at least he didn’t look like he was about to throttle Harry anymore, so that was something.

“Yeah.” Harry fiddled with his towel.

“In front of other people?” Louis clarified. Harry flushed slightly, but nodded. Louis laughed and shook his head. “You’re something else, you know that?”

That...didn’t sound bad. Harry wanted to melt through the floor with relief. Before he could think of a suitable response, Louis scooped up his bedsheets - and the maid outfit - and left the room, still chuckling to himself.

Well. That could have gone better. But also worse, so overall Harry will take the win.

He dried off quickly and got changed into some comfy clothes. He had called his PA Niall yesterday to reschedule some stuff this morning, and though he still had a bunch of interviews this afternoon, they were all phone-ins to radio stations, so he didn’t have to get dressed for real.

Harry stared at himself in the mirror above his dresser, trying to psych himself back up. He was wearing his lucky worn-out Rolling Stones shirt and his comfiest joggers. He was going to salvage this morning and impress the fuck out of Louis with the best English fry up around, just like he had initially planned to do.

He was going to ignore everything incredibly embarrassing that had just happened, win the heart of the boy of his dreams and do it without getting sued for inappropriate employee relations.

All before breakfast.

“Louis, would you like some breakfast?” Harry asked, poking his head into the living room where Louis was scooping up bottles into a bag. “I’m about to make some.”

“I’m working,” Louis said, not even looking up from what he was doing. “Besides, when I said it was morning, I meant like, barely. Breakfast has been and gone.”

Harry felt himself visibly deflate. He felt even more dejected when he entered the kitchen and realised the extent of the mess.

Still, Harry was not the type to let himself be defeated by a few minor (mortifying) setbacks, so he cleared a small bit of space to work with, pulled some eggs and bacon and a few sausages out of the fridge and set to work.

Maybe he could still win Louis over with the smell of frying bacon.

Sure enough, Harry had no sooner thrown everything into a pan when Louis stuck his head through the kitchen door, nose twitching.

“I’m making extra,” Harry said without looking up, trying not to smile.

“Well, since I’ll be cleaning up in this room anyway, seems a shame to waste it,” Louis mumbled, coming into the room fully, trash bags in hand.

Harry felt like he was going to explode from sunshine. God, how was he so gone for this boy already? They had only met two days ago, and hadn’t even really had full conversation, yet just the act of Louis agreeing to sit down and eat a meal with him filled him with happiness.

He plated up both of their food and turned to find Louis had cleared a space on the table. Harry beamed at him in thanks, and for the first time Louis looked slightly flustered, brushing his fringe back in an unconscious gesture.

“So what are your plans for today?” Harry asked as they both tucked in.

“Mm?” Louis seemed distracted by the food in front of him. “Oh, I have class. This is really good, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Harry beamed. “What are you studying?”

“I’m going to to be a drama teacher.” Louis popped some more bacon and eggs into his mouth and moaned appreciatively, which did nothing for Harry at all, nope. “Seriously, where the hell did you learn to cook? This is the best fry up I’ve ever had.”

Harry really hoped that Louis would attribute his flushed face to modesty and not the obscene noises falling from the other boy’s lips.

“I, um, used to work in a bakery,” Harry said, trying to focus his thoughts and not stare at Louis’ mouth.

Louis hummed in response, cleaning the last bit of sausage and toast off his plate. “Well, at least you’ll have a backup plan if that singing thing doesn’t work out.” He winked to show he was joking.

Harry was in love. Completely. There was no point in even fighting it anymore.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said instead, smiling and letting Louis steal the last bit of bacon off his plate.

“Well, as much fun as this has been, Harold,” Louis said in mock sternness as he stood up from the table, “I do actually have a job to do. One I have to finish to make it to class on time.”

“I could drive you?” Harry offered, quickly standing too and grabbing the dishes before Louis reached for them. Louis blinked at him in surprise.

“Um, that’s nice of you to offer, but I’ve already got someone coming.” He shrugged apologetically. “Wasn’t sure how bad the place was going to be and didn’t want to miss my class.”

Harry was not disappointed, because that would be ridiculous. He also couldn’t think of another excuse to keep Louis in his company when he thanked him for breakfast and finished cleaning the flat. They said their goodbyes and Louis left.

The person who picked Louis up had dark hair, dark eyes and the type of chiseled features a Greek god would kill for.

Harry flopped on his newly-made bed and only gave into despair for a good solid half hour before he pulled himself together to do his radio interviews. Overall he would call that personal growth.

+++

As much as Harry desperately wanted to see Louis again (and investigate his mysteriously gorgeous chauffeur friend), he had a tour to promote and get ready for, and an album to finish writing so he could be ready to record it the moment he got back.

His days quickly filled with endless interviews and gimmicky talk show games and his evenings were spent at his piano, crumpled bits of paper all around him. All he wanted to write about was deep blue eyes, hot sex against walls and cuddles afterwards. It was hard trying to keep the fucking out, but the feelings in, because they were two sides of the same coin in Harry’s mind.

The final week before tour started, Nick ambushed Harry at his flat.

“This is ridiculous,” he said, gesturing dramatically at the song notes everywhere, Harry sat in the middle blinking up at him. “You are working far too hard to be of any use to anyone. We are going out!”

Before Harry could protest, or point out that hard work was in fact quite useful to numerous people, Nick badgered and bullied him into changing his outfit and then dragged him down to the pub.

“You don’t have to do it all the first year out the gate.” Nick was putting on that air he did when he was trying to appear wise and knowledgeable. His credibility was slightly marred by the bright pink drink in his hand and the fact that Harry had known him for more than five minutes.

“If you don’t chase your dreams, you’ll never catch them,” Harry quoted back, fiddling with the straw in his own brightly coloured drink. It was purple, but tasted like strawberries, which was delicious and confusing.

“Does this taste purple to you?” he asked Nick, thrusting the drink in his face. Behind him, Harry heard a laugh that sounded familiar. He turned around, pulling the drink away from Nick just as he was reaching out to try some, causing him to make an annoyed sound.

“Louis!” Harry couldn’t help the smile that broke across his face if he tried. Louis was stood next to him at the bar, looking positively edible in a pair of tight jeans and a sleeveless Vans top that showcased incredibly toned arms and wow - a _lot_ of tattoos.

Harry was trying not to drool when Nick’s voice piped up over his shoulder.

“Is this your cleaner? You’re right, he does scrub up nicely.” He placed a slight emphasis on the word scrub and Harry’s jaw practically dropped open in shock. He turned to tell Nick off for being so incredibly rude and also maybe give him a bit of slap on the arm because oh my god, when Louis sniffed disdainfully.

“I didn’t realise it was seniors night in here,” he said scathingly, his voice like ice. “But I suppose when you’ve got a face made for radio, it all evens out, innit?”

Fucking hell, _what_?!

Harry felt he would get whiplash as his head snapped back and forth between the two who were glaring daggers at each other. The moment stretched out in agonizing slowness as Harry tried frantically to think of something to say that would ease the tension.

“Whatever,” Louis said dismissively, apparently deciding the whole thing wasn’t worth his time. He dropped a twenty on the bar top and headed for the door.

“Louis, wait!” Harry quickly put his drink down and followed him. “Please, don’t go.”

Louis turned to look at him and Harry used the opportunity to duck in between him and the door. He wanted to spend some time with Louis outside his flat and he really didn’t want Louis to leave on such a bad note.

“I mean, I don’t know what crawled up Nick’s arse tonight, but he’s not usually like that, I promise.” Harry smiled hopefully. “And just because you work for me, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, right?” Maybe more than friends, he hoped silently.

A complicated expression flickered across Louis’ face, too quick for Harry to decipher.

“Didn’t you get the memo when you hit your first million, Styles?” Louis smirked as he pushed past, a horrible empty smile that Harry hated immediately. “That’s exactly what it means.” He disappeared out the door into the night beyond.

Harry didn’t follow him, but he did go back to the bar and give Nick the thump on the arm he deserved.

“What the hell?” he demanded.

Nick grumbled and rubbed his arm where Harry hit him, but didn’t try to retaliate, so Harry knew that Nick was aware he had stuffed up.

“I wasn’t expecting him to look like that, alright?” Nick confessed with a sigh. “Look at you like that.”

Harry stared at him.

“What do you mean?”

Nick scowled, running his fingers through his hair like he did when he was nervous.

“Look, I always expected you to find someone who was younger and more attractive _eventually_ , but I just...wasn’t ready for it, I guess.”

Harry smacked him on the arm again.

“Ow!”

“You are such a twat!” Harry felt like yelling. Instead he wrapped arms around Nick and hugged him within an inch of his life. “I’m not going to replace you, you idiot. Even if I fall in love a thousand times over, you’ll always be my stupidest friend.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Nick scoffed, but he hugged Harry back just as tightly.

After a moment they pulled apart and Nick rubbed his hands together bruskly. “Alright now that we’ve got all those horrible feelings out of the way, let’s talk action plans to win back your boy, hmm?”

“Yes, please!” Harry turned to catch the bartender’s eye. They were going to need more drinks.

+++

Nick’s great plan, it turned out, was for Harry to write a hit record that would simultaneously showcase his emotional vulnerability as well as earn millions of pounds. Since that was also Nick’s plan last week to get out of a parking ticket, Harry wasn’t sure how much faith he had in its success, but he decided to give it a shot.

After all, his songwriting had been stuck on all the things he wanted to do with Louis once they were together, but maybe if he tried approaching it from where he was right now?

He sat at his piano bench, but instead of placing his hands on the keys, he pulled over the acoustic guitar resting against the wall nearby. Niall had been teaching him to play in their downtime on tour - maybe the different sound would help him out.

Harry sat for a few minutes, strumming chords and plucking a few melodies, his fingers wandering up and down the strings aimlessly. He closed his eyes, thinking about Louis’ smile when Harry had greeted him at the pub last night and his delight over Harry’s cooking. Harry let his fingers play out the tune forming in his head, thinking of Louis’ flat gaze when he thought Harry was mocking him with the maid costume and how cold his eyes were when he left the pub.

He paused his strumming and reached for a pen and a bit of paper, scribbling down the melody playing through his head, scratching out some quick lyrics next to it.

After nearly an hour, Harry felt happy enough with what he had to play it through from beginning to end. He put the pen down and started to play, closing his eyes again and strumming the guitar gently like a lover.

  
  


_Sometimes I think you could be mine_

_If you’d say that I’d be yours_

_But sometimes I think that I’m reaching_

_For something that isn’t even there_

_Do you think you could love me,_

_If I shared my love with you?_

_And would you dream with me baby,_

_If I shared my dreams with you?_

_And I still don’t know,_

_If your heart is as warm as your smile_

_When you say hello,_

_I still don’t know,_

_If your heart as cold as your eyes,_

_When you say goodbye_

_Listen to my heart baby,_

_It beats only for you._

_Listen to my heart, baby,_

_It calls only for you._

_Only for you._

__  
  


Harry’s voice trailed off slowly as his fingers played out the last of the melody. He might bump the final verse up to the beginning of the song to mirror the end and provide a more soft opening to the music, but overall he thought it might turn out to be something he could iron out and maybe record.

He opened his eyes to write down the final changes in his moleskin and nearly fell off the piano stool when he discovered Louis standing barely two feet away.

“Fuck me!” Harry flailed in surprise, his pen and notebook flying. He clutched the guitar against his chest, trying to get his heart back under control. It occurred to him this was a little ironic, since an uncontrollable heart was what has landed him in this mess in the first place.

“I wanted to apologise for acting like a dick last night,” Louis said, staring at Harry.

“Oh!” Harry untangled himself from the guitar strap and hoped he didn’t looked as flustered as he felt. “No, I mean, you were right to be like, upset, Nick was way out of-”

“Who is that song about?” Louis interrupted him.

Crap.

For half a moment Harry thought about bluffing his way out of the question, but he had always been a terrible liar.

“You.” He shrugged apologetically. He dared to glance up at Louis’ face, his eyes widening at the wild look there before Louis practically launched himself at Harry, crowding him back against the piano, slipping a thigh between Harry’s legs. He reached up and grabbed a handful of Harry’s hair, tugging him down and into a kiss.

Harry gasped in surprise and Louis exploited it shamelessly, licking into Harry’s mouth aggressively. The kiss was all take and no give, and Harry wouldn’t have it any other way. He never wanted it to end, wrapping his arms tightly around Louis’ waist and hips, trying desperately to keep up.

After a moment of impassioned snogging, Harry couldn’t help but move his hands. He slid one hand up onto the small of Louis’ back, pressing their bodies even closer together, and slipped the other down to cup Louis’ arse, giving it a cheeky squeeze.

Louis groaned and rolled his hips; first forward into where he was pressed against Harry and then back into Harry’s hands.

They both broke apart, breathing heavily.

“I wanted to jump you from the first moment I saw you,” Harry confessed, brushing their noses together.

“God, how do you even exist?” Louis asked, his eyes closed, still panting. “Everyone knows famous people are assholes who only think about their bank accounts, not charming idiots who cook breakfast for their _cleaners_ , Christ.”

Harry grinned in delight, unable to keep his hands from wandering up and down Louis’ back, touching him as much as he could simply because he was allowed. Louis opened his eyes and rolled them at Harry’s expression, leaning up to brush their lips together again, a much softer, gentler kiss than their first.

Harry pulled back reluctantly after a moment. “I’m about to go on tour for two months,” he said, his eyes searching Louis’. “Will you wait for me?” It was a lot to ask, he knew, but he wanted Louis to know that this wasn’t a one time thing for him after today, that he wanted something more.

Louis frowned slightly. “When do you leave?”

“At the end of the week.”

Louis met his gaze evenly. “We can have a lot of sex in that time,” he said seriously.

Harry burst out laughing. “I like the way you think,” he replied, grinning. “How about we get started?”

Louis’ reply was to grab his hand and drag him towards the bedroom. Harry laughed the whole way.

++++

**EPILOGUE**

Harry shifted in his seat, staring out the window of the cab. Tour had been amazing; Harry had performed in more than twenty countries in just two months and had loved every second of it, but he was so incredibly glad to be back in London.

He had Skyped, Snapchatted and texted Louis non-stop the entire time he had been away and now finally they were going to be together face-to-face. There had been a message on his phone when he got off the plane that Louis was already waiting at his flat and the drive home felt like it was taking forever.

Harry’s heart fluttered. After the epic amounts of sex he planned to have the moment he got through the door, Harry wanted to sit down with Louis and make sure they were on the same page emotionally. He might not mention marriage and kids like he had been thinking about pretty much constantly, but he wanted to ask Louis if he could call him his boyfriend - hoped Louis wanted the same thing.

In all the texts and chats and conversations they had been having over the last eight weeks, neither of them had broached the subject of their relationship. It had been mostly incredibly domestic conversations about their days and what they were thinking about, followed by desperate phone or Skype sex.

For his own part, Harry hadn’t wanted to push Louis too far when the two of them were still so new to each other - still getting to know each other’s buttons and rhythms. But he also really wanted to let Louis know that he was serious about them. Face-to-face seemed the better option for such a heavy talk, so he could gauge Louis’ reactions.

First though, they were going to have a _lot_ of sex. Harry hadn’t felt Louis’ hands on him in two months, which was practically forever.

When the cab pulled up outside of his building, Harry thrust some money at the driver and didn’t even wait for change before racing up to his flat.

At the airport, Niall had rolled his eyes and shoved Harry into the closest cab, telling him that he would stick around to get Harry’s luggage and send it round later that afternoon. It was possible Harry had been having difficulty keeping quiet about how much he was missing Louis.

Harry opened the front door to his flat, expecting Louis to bowl him over, but there was no sign of him. In fact, the flat was worryingly silent.

“Louis?” Harry called, his heart dropping at the thought that Louis had got tired of waiting and gone home.

Relief flooded through him when he heard a faint “In here!” coming from his bedroom. Harry nearly tripped over in his hurry as he tried to shed his boots and socks on the way.

When he reached the bedroom doorway though, he froze.

Louis stood next to the bed, his hair carefully styled and his skin glowing golden in the light of dozens of candles that were lit around the room. His eyes were even more blue than Harry remembered.

He was also wearing the maid outfit Harry had worn at his Halloween party.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. All the blood in his body rushed towards his groin and he felt light-headed.

“Zayn said that because I’m so shit at talking about my feelings, I should try like, a meaningful gesture instead,” Louis lifted his chin slightly, a deep flush across his cheeks. “This was the only thing I could think of and if it doesn’t work I’m going to bloody murder him, because I’ve never been so fucking embarrassed in all my life as right now.”

“Jesus.” Harry breathed, his eyes drinking in the way the short skirt put Louis’ gorgeously shaped thighs on display, barely covering his crotch. His edible collarbones and pecs peeked out over the top of the outfit, tattoos clearly visible, and his toned arms brushed against lace as his delicate hands tugged self consciously at the edge of the skirt.

“Yeah?” Louis ducked his head shyly under Harry’s open admiration.

Finally shaking his paralysis, Harry stepped forward into Louis’ space and gently crooked a finger under his chin, lifting his face to stare into his eyes.

“You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” he said sincerely. “How can you not know what you do to me?”

Louis’ mouth dropped open in surprise at Harry’s declaration. He reached out and slid his hands up into Harry’s curls, burying his face in his neck. “God, how can you just open your mouth and say things like that?” he muttered, blushing hard enough that Harry could feel his warmth against his skin.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Louis tensed in his arms, pulling back to stare at Harry with wide eyes. Harry searched his face, trying to work out how much damage control he needed to employ. So, okay, saying that out loud hadn’t been the plan. It hadn’t even been on the _agenda_. It was supposed to go sex, boyfriends, sex, in that order. But it was so true, had been true for a while now, and Harry didn’t want to hide it anymore.

But he also really really didn’t want to scare Louis away, and he knew that two months was considered very early in a relationship for such declarations.

“You are so ridiculous,” Louis breathed, and Harry had no idea what that meant. Well, like, he knew what it meant, but not what it meant in response to trying to share his heart with Louis.

He was just about to ask when Louis kissed him, as soft and gentle as you please, a chaste brush of lips.

“I love you too, you sappy idiot,” he whispered against Harry’s mouth, a smile spreading across his face. “Now take me to bed and fuck me right out of this stupid outfit.”

And well, what else was Harry supposed to say to that but, “Yeah, okay.”

Harry slid his hands down under Louis’ skirt and under his arse, bending his knees and picking Louis up into his arms easily.

Louis laughed in surprise as Harry all but tossed him onto the bed. He sat up and watched hungrily as Harry quickly shed all his clothes.

“I can’t believe you wore this,” Harry murmured as he climbed onto the bed, trailing a hand up Louis’ leg until it brushed the top of the skirt.

Louis flicked his fringe out of his face, flustered. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you wearing it,” he confessed, obviously trying to keep still under Harry’s teasingly light touches. “Thought I’d return the favour.”

“So pretty.” Harry was barely aware of what he was saying, watching his fingers run down Louis’ tan leg before bringing them back up and letting them roam over and up to the top of the outfit, where one of Louis’ nipples had escaped. Harry leaned down and sucked it into his mouth, gently pulling it between his teeth before leaning back and blowing on it lightly.

“Harry,” Louis whined, his hands coming up to play with Harry’s curls, tugging at them but not pushing or pulling, letting Harry go at his own pace.

Harry slid back down Louis’ body to dip his face under the skirt and found to his incredible pleasure that Louis had gone the whole nine yards and was wearing black lace panties. His cock was straining up against the material, the head starting to peek out of the waistline because he was so hard.

God.

Harry sucked gently at Louis’ balls over the fabric, inhaling Louis’ smell through the cloth, before licking up the shaft of his dick. Louis was making the most gorgeous sounds above him, obviously going out of his mind at the sensation of Harry’s mouth almost on him, but not quite.

“Lube please,” Harry asked politely, pulling off for a moment as he tugged the panties to one side before leaning back in and licking broadly across Louis’ hole and up his taint. Louis gasped above him, but still managed to fumble sideways into Harry’s bedside drawer where they kept their lube and condoms.

Despite Louis’ quick retrieval of the items, Harry took his time before he reached for them, alternating between small kitten licks and deep thrusting probes of his tongue, before pulling back and sucking gently at Louis’ rim.

Finally he obeyed Louis begging so nicely above him, tugging the panties down Louis’ legs and then off altogether, before opening the bottle of lube and coating his fingers liberally.

Feeling that Louis was loose enough from his tongue, he thrust two fingers inside together, burying them to the knuckle. Louis’ back arched off the bed with a shout, one leg wrapping itself around Harry’s shoulder and the other curling into the bed, his hands clenching tightly in the sheets.

“Oh my god, Harry, _fuck_ , fuck me please,” he gasped, his head thrown back against the pillows. He looked so beautiful like this - lost in the pleasure of it - that Harry watched his face instead of where his fingers were disappearing inside Louis as he stretched him.

“Now, please, now,” Louis babbled after Harry added a third finger and yeah, okay. Harry slid his fingers out and moved up the bed to kiss Louis’ whimpers from his mouth.

“Want you to ride me,” Harry said, pulling back and staring into Louis’ glazed eyes. “Want to watch you, see how pretty you can be for me.”

Panting, Louis stared at him dazedly for a moment, then started shoving at Harry’s shoulder, pushing him onto his back.

As he knelt over Harry’s hips, smearing lube up and down Harry’s length quickly before reaching behind himself to position Harry’s cock, Harry grabbed his waist.

“Wait, Lou, the condom-”

“No, no, I’m good, I mean-” Louis hesitated, biting his lip and watching Harry with hooded eyes. “I’m good if you are.”

_Fuck_.

“Yeah, I’m-” Harry’s voice caught and he tried again. “I’m clean, I promise.”

Louis smiled down at him, this beautiful thing that spread across his face and crinkled his eyes, tugging at Harry’s heart. He was so incredibly lucky. Then Louis grasped Harry’s cock firmly in his hand and lined it up underneath him, and all of Harry’s thoughts of fate and good fortune flew out the window.

It took a few tries for Louis to start sinking down, stopping and starting with small gasps when he moved too quickly. He slowly dropped down an agonising inch at a time, until he was seated completely in Harry’s lap. The top of the maid outfit had fallen down to bare his nipples completely, but the skirt was still in place, flared out around their waists and covering their joined hips.

It was the hottest thing Harry had seen in his entire life. The feel of being inside Louis completely bare was so incredible, he felt he may never recover.

After what felt like an eternity, Louis had adjusted enough to Harry’s cock that he started to roll his hips back and forth, the drag of Harry inside him making them both groan.

“Move, love,” Harry gritted out, resting his hands around Louis’ waist, loving the way they dwarfed his tiny middle, almost reaching right around to his back.

“Yeah,” Louis breathed, placing his hands on Harry’s chest, finally getting his knees spread underneath him in a way that gave him leverage to move up and down.

Every time Louis lifted himself up, the skirt lifted enough with him for Harry to see where his cock was disappearing into Louis’ arse, shiny with sweat and come. Then Louis would drop back down again and the skirt would cover up the sight, leaving Harry to only feel the way his cock slid home and how they moved together as easily as breathing.

“Fuck!” Louis’s head dropped back in pleasure as he picked up the pace, his curved thighs flexing with the strain. “So close, Haz, please-”

Harry let go of Louis’ waist with one hand and slipped it under the skirt, grasping Louis’ cock and tugging it hard and fast. Louis grunted, falling forward and started to come, clenching tightly around Harry’s cock inside him. He collapsed onto Harry’s chest completely, panting hard as Harry ran his hands up and down his back gently, soothing as he waited patiently.

“Okay, go nuts,” Louis said after a moment of catching his breath and Harry didn’t waste any time slipping his hands down to grasp Louis’ ass, shifting Louis up higher so Harry could get the leverage to thrust his hips up hard into him. Louis let himself be held in place while Harry pounded into him for a few minutes, before he lifted his head and whispered, “I love you.”

Harry came harder than he ever had in his life.

When he became aware of his surroundings again, Louis was chuckling and looking down at him with a fond expression.

“So much for the dirty talk,” he said with a grin.

Harry shrugged, playing with the edge of the skirt that covered where they were still joined.

“At least we can mark off cross-dressing,” he replied innocently. He smiled when Louis started to laugh.

Besides, Harry thought to himself as they started to half-heartedly clean themselves up, they would have plenty of time to get to the other stuff, anyway.

He was counting on it.

  
THE END.

**Author's Note:**

> Bless you for making it to the end. 
> 
> Parmahams, I hope you liked it! I tried to be as faithful as possible, but I got a little caught up in my own fun, so hopefully you enjoyed it and it didn't stray too much from what you had in mind :DD
> 
> The song Harry sings in the story is one that I made up, which explains why it's a bit crap. Harry writes much better songs than me, which should surprise no one.
> 
> I am very sorry about the less than original title, but the new album is out and that is literally the only thing my brain would give me.


End file.
